This House Doesn't Burn Down Slowly
by BlaineAndergay
Summary: Blaine's world was crumbling. His boyfriend wasn't talking to him, he wasn't even sure if they had broken up or not. All he knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about that one mistake he made that tore his life apart. Title from It's Time by Imagine Dragons. T for violence and language/slurs. Partial AU. I am in the process of fixing all the line breaks that aren't showing
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

He had barely kept it together on the plane ride back home. A few people had asked him what was wrong, but he couldn't say anything, it would have just come out as a broken sob.

When he got home, he broke down.

He walked up to his room, climbed into bed, and sobbed. Shaking, gasping sobs. And then there was a knock on his door.

Blaine froze. His parents were supposed to be at work. He wiped his tears and with wide eyes opened his door just a crack.

"What the fuck are you crying about, faggot?"

Of course it had to be his dad. And just to make it worse? He was drunk.

"I- Nothing, dad."

"I'm pretty fucking sure men don't cry like that."

Blaine couldn't say anything. Talking just made it worse. It always made it worse.

"Look you fucking fairy, you going to tell me what the fuck is wrong with you or not?!"

Blaine shook his head. And then his dad pulled his arm back. He ducked just in time to avoid the beer bottle shooting past his head, smashing into the wall behind him, glass showering down onto his bed.

He had to leave. When he didn't leave, his dad would hit him. And he couldn't deal with that on top of the rest of what the past few days had been like.

"Tell me why the FUCK you were crying and I will leave you alone, faggot," his dad yelled. "FUCKING TELL ME NOW."

"My boyfriend broke up with me!" Blaine yelled in a sob, eyes widening as he realized what he said. He ran to his room to grab his phone before trying to run out of the house, but when he got to the top of the stairs again his dad grabbed him by the shirt.

"What the fuck did you just say? Your boyfriend? Some little fucking whore was willing to be with YOU and you're actually upset when he dumps you? Who the fuck wouldn't? You are a fucking worthless faggot, Blaine, and that all you will EVER be to your mother and I." His dad snarled, his face just inches from Blaine's.

"He's not a whore." Blaine mumbled quietly

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"I said he's not a whore, dad. He's a better person than you could ever even dream of be-"

He couldn't finish his sentence before his dad threw him down the stairs.

He fell, hitting against the wall and banister and he was fairly certain he had broken something. and then when he got the the end up the staircase his head slammed against the wall.

"You aren't welcome back in this home until you have a girlfriend. I won't have a fucking faggot in my house." His dad said, barely above a whisper, before kicking Blaine in the face, his steel toed boot hitting him in the eye.

The last thing Blaine heard before he passed out was his dad. "I don't ever want to see your fucking fairy face in my house again."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

When Blaine woke up he didn't know where he was. There were packed bags next to him and cars rushing by on the street. He had been laying on a sidewalk.

_This is it Blaine. Your dad kicked you out and dropped you on the sidewalk. He doesn't care anymore. Not that he ever really did. At least he packed some of my things, though.._

Blaine got up and lifted his bags. It seemed to not be too late at night, but he still was unsure about walking around alone in an area he didn't know all that well.

He walked around for about an hour, hoping to stumble across a street name he recognized when he looked up and saw a car pulling over. His heart jumped into his throat, sure it would be somebody he knew from school, someone who would hurt him even more than he already was hurt.

But what he really wasn't expecting was for Burt Hummel of all people to get out of the car.

"Kiddo, what the hell are you doing this far from home with bags and a black eye?"

"I.. Uh.. My dad was drunk, and um..." Blaine stopped when he felt a tear run down his cheek, stinging against the cut he didn't know was under his eye.

"I was on my way home anyway, why don't you put your stuff in the trunk and I bring you back with me for a nice meal and we can talk."

"I- Really? You don't.. You don't hate me for what I did to.. what I did to Kurt?" He mumbled.

"Look kiddo, I think you made a mistake like every dumb teenager does. I'm not going to make you stay out here and end up getting killed because you fucked up. Now get in the car so we can get out of the cold, alright?"

Blaine nodded, walking over to Burt's car. He opened the trunk and dropped his bags in. He closed the trunk and walked over to the door, getting in and quietly sitting next the Burt.

"Blaine, ya want to tell me how you got that black eye?"

Blaine tell him what happened up to the top of the stairs, a sob cutting him short.

"My dad.. He uh.. he called Kurt a whore, and I got mad. I talked back. He threw me down the stairs, kicked me in the face, and I guess once I was passed out he dumped me on the street. "He told me as long as I'm a faggot he doesn't want me in his house." He said quickly.

"I'm gonna fucking kill that son of a bitch," Burt mumbled through clenched teeth, gripping the steering wheel tight, obviously upset. "Nobody calls my son a whore or hurts you, Blaine. You don't deserve that. You matter, and if he isn't going to treat you like you do? Then he doesn't fucking deserve you. You are too good for him, kid, you know that? You can stay with me and Carole as long as you need. I'm going to be talking to that dad of yours though. Where do you live?"

Blaine gave him directions to his dad's house. "You don't know him, Sir, he isn't going to listen to you.."

"Call me Burt."

"Sorry, Burt, he isn't going to listen to you."

"We'll see."

When they got to his house - no, not his house anymore, his dad's house, - Blaine felt sick. He never wanted to see this place again. These horrible bricks perfectly laid to make a wall to hide them from their neighbors, the house painted such a bright white it hurt him to look at, and the lush garden that they had paid someone so much to keep nice. At first glance from someone who didn't know them, it was a nice, expensive house. To Blaine it was a horrible reminder of the childhood he never had, being raised by nannies instead of parents while they went on vacations and out to dinner and a movie every night after work. They had never had time for Blaine. Of course that got even worse when Blaine came out. And then that night - Sadie Hawkins - where his dad told him every problem was his fault for being gay, and that maybe if they had beaten him a little harder he would have "gotten his head out of his ass and just decided to be straight."

As soon as he had gotten out of the hospital they shipped him off to Dalton. Ironic that Dalton would be where he would find the love of his life.

_Yeah, the one you cheated on_, he thought to himself. His stomach lurched. He opened the door of the car, throwing up into one of the flower patches.

Blaine's head whipped up when he heard Burt yelling at his dad.

"Where the fuck do you get off calling my son a whore and beating your own kid?"

"Your son is a fucking faggot, same as mine. And he fucking deserved it, crying like a girl because of YOUR stupid fucking whore of a son!"

Blaine could see Burt trying to hold back. Blaine jumped out of the car, running at Burt to keep him from doing what he was too late to stop him from doing. Burt punched Blaine's dad in the face so hard that it had knocked him into the door frame.

"Get in the car Blaine, we're going home." He hissed the last word at Blaine's dad.

His dad looked up at Blaine, rage in his eyes. "Fine, take him, see how fast you throw him out when you see how pathetic and worthless he is."

Blaine held back crying again.

"You know what? I love Blaine. And I would love to let him live with us. He deserves a loving home, which you clearly can't give him. Blaine, get in the damn car."

They sat in the car and Burt drove away, pulling over when Blaine started crying again.

"You.. you punched my dad.. Nobody has ever actually stood up for me before.." he choked out.

"Like I said to your dad, you deserve a loving home, Blaine. You're a good kid, even if you screw up occasionally. But who doesn't do that sometimes? You'll be okay, son, Carole and I will treat you well, you'll see."

Burt pulled Blaine into a hug, Blaine instantly curling into him, clinging to him.

Burt could feel his heart break when it hit him that nobody else but Kurt had ever shown Blaine that they cared. Burt held onto Blaine a bit more tightly before pulling away, turning back onto the road.

"Now let's get you home and set up the guest room for you, and then we can enjoy a nice dinner as a family, alright?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

"Carole, you in there?" Burt called out once he opened the door.

"Yeah, in the kitchen, i'm making dinner!"

Blaine mumbled something.

"Speak up a bit kid, I can't hear a word you're saying."

"I said maybe I should leave. I- I shouldn't be here, Burt."

"Yeah? Well where exactly do you plan on going then? You can't live on the street Blaine, i'm not going to do that to you or let you do that to yourself."

Blaine was about to say something when Carole walked in. "Blaine! We haven't seen you here in ages, how have you been? Why are you here? Wait, why do you have a black eye?"

"Hon, maybe you should sit down so Blaine and I can explain."

Carole made tea, and they sat down. Burt spoke first. "We just came from Blaine's house, Carole. He ah, hit Blaine, said some... offensive things about Blaine and Kurt, and kicked Blaine out. I offered to let Blaine stay with us. Then I punched his dad in the face."

"Burt! You aren't supposed to be getting into any situation that can get your heart rate up too high, are you feeling okay? And Blaine, we need to take care of that cut on your face to make sure it doesn't get infected... follow me into the bathroom and i'll fix you right up, okay? Then I will start dinner and Burt can help you set up the guest room. Does that sound alright?" She asked, clearly trying to be gentle since he was sure he didn't look the best right now.

"Yes, that.. that sounds good, thank you Carole.."

"No problem at all sweetie, let's work on cleaning that cut now okay?"

Blaine followed her down the hall into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub when she pulled out a washcloth and peroxide.

"This will sting a little, but it's going to keep it clean, alright?"

She dabbed the washcloth, now wet from the peroxide, onto the cut, pulling away a little when he winced.

"Hm.. It's a bit deeper of a cut than I thought it was.. how did you get this Blaine?"

"Steel toed boot." Blaine mumbled quietly.

Carole gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, and pulled him into a hug. "It's alright Blaine, you can stay here as long as you want, alright?"

"Thanks, you guys don't have to be so nice after what I did to Kurt though.." he said, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"People make mistakes, Blaine, it doesn't make them bad people. Now let's go back out so I can make dinner and you can get your stuff settled into the guest room. Like I said before, Burt can help you with that. Are your things in the car? I can go get them for you if you want?"

"Yeah, they are. I can get them, you've done enough for me already. Thank you again, you don't know how much it really means to me." Blaine said quickly, starting to cry again.

"It's not any trouble Blaine, wouldn't you do the same in this kind of situation? Now go get your things, dinner will be ready in about half an hour, and I'm sure Burt is hungry. I'm making spaghetti, is that okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great Carole, thank you. Is it okay if I take a quick shower once I bring my things in?"

"Of course, just be out in time for dinner." She said, walking out of the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

After dinner (which Blaine quite liked, he hadn't had a home cooked meal in months,) They fixed up the guest room. Burt tossed some sheets and pillowcases onto the bed and went to find a blanket and some pillows. Blaine opened his bags to start putting things into the dresser when he saw a note sitting on the top of his clothing. He read it hesitantly, knowing it wouldn't be anything he wanted to read.

_Blaine,_

_Your mother and I no longer want to have any contact with you. We put what belongings fit in your bags and we told the housekeeper to let you in next week while we are at work so you can get the rest of your things. If you leave anything, it will be thrown out._

_Signed,_

_Walter Anderson_

_You know that we didn't want it to come to this, but you seem to have left us no choice. Good luck wherever you end up, Blaine._

_Signed,_

_Lucy Anderson_

So that was it. They didn't want anything to do with him anymore. He pulled his knees up into his chest and laid on the bed, starting to cry again. Burt walked in after another minute or two.

"Blaine? What's wrong?"

He picked the letter up and handed it to Burt with a shaky hand.

Burt read it, visibly getting angrier with every line he read. "That son of a bitch. That fucking bastard son of a bitch. Blaine, you don't deserve this. You are amazing and they are just too narrow minded and stupid to understand that. You deserve better parents than them, you deserve parents who will care about you unconditionally, Blaine. And I'm so, so sorry you have had to deal with them for this long. You can stay here as long as you want, we aren't going to kick or out or treat you how they did, okay kiddo? You have people here who care about you, and that isn't going to change."

Blaine sat up, wiped his face, wincing when his hand ran over his cheek, and hugged Burt, sobbing into his shoulder.

"T-t-thank you so much, Mr. Hummel -"

"Burt."

"Burt, for letting me into your home like this. I can't say it enough, thank you so much."

"It's no trouble, kid. Now let's get your stuff put away, alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Blaine said, pulling his clothes out of the bags, still breathing quite quickly from crying. He stopped after a minute with a sigh and started rubbing his eyes, lightly biting his lip.

"Something else wrong?"

"Kurt gave me that shirt." He whispered, trying to keep from crying again. He wasn't sure that he even physically could cry anymore after all the crying in the past day or two.

"Blaine, have you considered just calling him and apologizing?"

"He won't pick up the phone."

"Texting?"

"He doesn't reply."

"Maybe you could try Rachel?"

"She picked up, told me I was an asshole, and hung up."

Burt pressed his face into him palms, trying to think of any other option.

"Facebook? Twitter? Tumblr?"

"He blocked me on all of them. I even sent flowers with a note, he ignores everything I try."

"Blaine, just give him some time. He loves you. He still loves you. He just needs some time to deal with how he feels. Eventually he's going to talk to you."

"You think so?"

"Kid, I know my son. Sooner or later he's going to talk to you. Now let's finish putting your stuff away so we can sleep. It's been a long day for me so I can't imagine how it's been for you."

"I'm not tired.." Blaine started, cut off by a huge yawn.

Burt laughed. "Yeah, okay, i'm sure you aren't."

"I'm not," Blaine protests, "I'm just.. fuck it, I don't know, yeah, I'm pretty damn tired."

Burt smiles. "Now get your butt off this bed so we can put the sheets on alright?"

"Sure thing Mr. Hu-, Burt. Thanks."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Blaine was up before anyone else, having not slept very well the night before. He kept waking up in the middle of the night not knowing where he was. Or hugging his pillow and waking up mumbling "Kurt" over and over. He got out of bed and went into the bathroom, showering and slicking down his hair with the gel he was thankful that his parents had put in his bag. He went back into the guest room - _My room now I suppose _- and got dressed.

He went down to the kitchen to get some breakfast when he figured that Carole and Burt would probably be down soon, so the least he could do was make them breakfast when they were letting him live there. He pulled out a big pan along with some eggs, vegetables, cheese, and turkey bacon. _Looks like Carole is following Kurt's rules of what Burt is allowed to eat, _He thought to himself with a smile. He pulled out a bowl and whisked the eggs, pouring them into the pan. He started coffee and pulled out orange juice, tossed the vegetables in with the eggs, mixed them around, set the table, and by the time Burt and Carole came down, everything was poured and prepared and he was just putting the last little sprinkle of cheese over the eggs.

"Just in time, I was afraid it would be cold by the time you guys got up. Coffee will be done in a second, I'll get the mugs, cream, and sugar out now. You two just sit and relax, okay?"

"Thank you, Blaine, you didn't have to go to all of this trouble though!" Carole said with a smile.

"It's no trouble, I was up really early and I figured it's the least I could do for you two after you let me stay here." He explained, setting all the things for coffee onto the middle of the table. He rinsed the pans out and sat down. "Does it taste good? I haven't cooked breakfast in a while.."

"This food is amazing, I may have to start having you make breakfast for me every day." Burt joked, nudging Blaine in the ribs lightly.

He smiled and took a tentative bite, watching the way Burt and Carole didn't even seemed slightly awkward opening up their home to him. They made him feel like he fit in without actually having to try, and that thought made Blaine feel a lot better.

Once they finished breakfast and Carole had helped Blaine wash the dishes, Blaine sat down with Burt in the living room where he was watching football. They talked about their favorite teams and players and who they thought would do the best this season and it just felt comfortable to Blaine. He had never been able to have such a meaningless but somehow still fun conversation with his family, it had always been question about whether Blaine had a girlfriend yet or talk about one of his dad's upcoming cases and questions about how Blaine was doing with school and so many other little things that gave Blaine headaches. It was nice to just relax for a little while without it being uncomfortable.

_I could really get used to this, _Blaine thought, _I just hope they don't change their mind about me being here any time soon._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Monday. Blaine had to go to school. He was thankful that all of this had happened over the weekend, he couldn't afford to miss any more school. Though most of that was so his dad would treat him just slightly better, so that wasn't really a problem anymore. He considered skipping school, not really feeling like getting out of bed after everything that had happened. He knew that he wanted to see his friends in glee club - his only friends - and he didn't want to have to wait until tomorrow, so he dragged himself out of bed and got into the shower.

He lingered longer than necessary in the shower, letting the warm water run over his body to relax his tensed muscles, his back and neck still sore from laying on the street for god knows how long. With a sigh he twisted the water off, stepping into the cold air. He dried himself off quickly, shivering as he got dressed. He pulled out a blow dryer and dried his hair, squeezed a huge blob of gel into his hand, and slicked his hair back. He went into his room and found his favorite bowtie - the one he wore on his first official date with Kurt - and tied it on as he walked into the kitchen. Carole was already up and had made breakfast, handing him a plate of pancakes as soon as he walked in.

"I figured you would like some breakfast," Carole said with a smile. "Syrup?"

"Mmm yes, please, thank you Carole. This looks delicious."

He scarfed down the pancakes as Carole laughed quietly. "You eat just like Finn."

Blaine smiled a full, toothy smile, mouth full of pancakes and syrup smeared across his lip with a trailing line dribbling down his chin.

Burt dropped him off at school.

Blaine didn't want him to, insisting he could just walk, but Burt just laughed, grabbed his keys, and got in the car. Blaine followed, setting his backpack in the back seat.

"Thank you Burt, but you really didn't have to do this." Blaine told him as he stepped out and grabbed his backpack. He was a little early so he wasn't too worried about running in as fast as he could like usual, so he stopped for a second. "Thank you again, for letting me stay with you. I don't think I could have dealt with this without you."

"It's really no big deal, Blaine. I told you, kiddo, I'm not gonna treat you like you aren't family. Now get to class before the bell rings."

Blaine had a fairly boring day, going through the motions during class, staying pretty quiet during lunch, telling his friends he was fine when they asked if he was okay. He had covered his black eye with makeup - he had to start buying it after his dad started hitting him more regularly, even Kurt hadn't found out - so they couldn't tell anything was wrong other than him being so quiet.

They didn't have any later classes together, so he didn't see anyone from glee club until it started after school. They weren't practicing for anything yet so it was just another theme week. When Blaine walked into the room he saw what was written on the board and his face fell. "Mistakes and regrets" was written and underlined. It was like Mr. Schue somehow knew. Blaine obviously knew that was just his irrational mind talking, but it really was horrible timing.

Blaine sat in his usual spot, his bag in Kurt's normal seat - he had continued putting his bag there so he could imagine Kurt was still there. He felt pathetic for doing that but it was the only thing that kept him slightly sane when the rest of them were arguing about who got to sing first - and waited for everyone else to get there.

After about 5 minutes of everyone being there, Mr. Schuester walked in. "Welcome, welcome everyone, this week's theme as you can see from the board is mistakes and regrets. I don't think this one needs any explaining, just sing any song you feel expresses these feelings. you will have until Friday to finish this assignment. Any questions?"

Blaine's hand was the only one up, and Mr. Schue nodded toward him. "Yes Blaine?"

"I already know what I want to sing, could I do it now?"

Mr. Schue motions his hand toward the mic in the middle of the room. "The stage is all yours."

Blaine tells Brad what song to play and he nodded, playing the first few lines of the song.

_Weep for yourself, my man,_

_You'll never be what is in your heart._

_Weep little lion man,_

_You're not as brave as you were at the start..._

Blaine looked up and saw Tina looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He was going to have to explain this one later.

_Rate yourself and rake yourself,_

_Take all the courage you have left._

_Wasted on fixing all the problems_

_That you made in your own head_

He was getting choked up, he could feel it in his throat. _This was a mistake, a stupid, stupid mistake. everyone will know something is wrong now you idiot._

_But it was not your fault but mine_

_And it was your heart on the line_

_I really fucked it up this time_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

_Didn't I, my..._

His throat was closing up, he couldn't look at anything but his feet. He kept going.

_Tremble for yourself, my man,_

_You know that you have seen this all before_

_Tremble little lion man,_

_You'll never settle any of your scores_

_Your grace is wasted in your face,_

_Your boldness stands alone among the wreck_

_Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck_

_But it was not your fault but mine_

_And it was your heart on the line_

_I really fucked it up this time_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

Tears were rolling down his cheeks now, His voice lightly trembling toward the end of every line, until he was barely singing above a whisper, voice raspy and throat closed. His voice wasn't steady enough to hum the break so it's silent aside from the piano backing him. A sob made it's way out of his throat. He took a deep, shaky breath, and sangs the last repeat of the chorus.

_But it was not your fault but mine_

_And it was your heart on the line_

_I really fucked it up this time_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

When he sang the last note, so quietly to avoid breaking down that it was barely even able to be heard, he walked over the the chair, grabbed his bag, and walked out of the room, ignoring Tina who was trying to catch up to him. He couldn't talk to anyone. He couldn't even leave the school before he broke down, falling to his knees and curling into the corner of the hall, broken sobs echoing down the corridor.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When he got back to Burt and Carole's house he walked into the bedroom and fell onto the bed crying. Carole knocked on the door softly, opening it and sitting on the side of the bed, rubbing circles into Blaine's back, trying to calm him down. She left, unsure if Blaine heard her say she would be right back over the loud gasps as he tried to catch his breath and stop crying.

She came back about ten minutes later with a cup of tea for each of them, and Blaine was curled into the corner of the bed against the wall, holding his knees, shaking, and hyperventilating. Carole set down the tray and rushed over to him, pulling him into a hug, her shirt instantly getting wet from all the tears. "Blaine, honey, what's wrong?"

Between gasp he managed to tell her that he was having an anxiety attack. He pointed to the half unpacked suitcase on the ground. "I-I-I h-have m-my a-anxiety pills i-in there," he choked out. "I n-need one w-w-with a drink."

"Of course, yes, let me find that.." Carole said, a little scared and trying to quickly find the pills. "Ah-hah! Found 'em!" she exclaimed, shaking one into her hand and giving it to Blaine along with the tea. He swallowed the pill and tried to calm himself down while waiting for it to work, Carole still rubbing his back and repeating "Shhh it's okay, shhh." over and over until he was calm enough to move and breathe normally enough to talk.

"What caused that Blaine? Are you okay?"

"I- I fucked up, Carole. I ruined everything I had with Kurt - My whole future - because I felt lonely. I- I fucked up the best thing in my life and hes never going to forgive me because I did a disgusting unforgivable thing and I just want to forget it ever happened and just talk to him and I just want to hug him and kiss him and tell him that I love him and that I made a mistake and that's all it was - A stupid, stupid mistake, but I can't because he won't talk to me!" he cried.

Carole hugged him again. "He will come around sweetie, you have to believe he will eventually talk to you and understand it was a mistake. He still loves you. I know that much. He would never stop loving you. He couldn't. You haven't seen how he talks about you when you aren't there, Blaine. He is not going to let all of that be thrown away because of a single mistake. It will take a while to regain his trust, yes, but it will happen at some point, you have to believe that."

"Nobody has ever stuck around, Carole. They all leave. Every single goddamn one of them leaves. They don't care about me. Nobody cares. Why would Kurt? I'm pathetic. And I broke his heart. Why would he ever want me back?"

Carole frowned. "Believe me, sweetie, he really does still love you. Will you be okay on your own? I have a few things to do but if you need me I can just do them tomorrow okay?"

"Don't - I don't want to waste your time. Don't waste any time on me..."

"It's not a waste of time, Blaine. YOU aren't a waste of time. We care about you, Blaine, and we don't like seeing you like this."

"I'm sorry.. I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems.. I shouldn't be imposing like this and making you take your time to take care of me.."

"Blaine. Stop apologizing. You don't need to be sorry for anything."

"Sorry." Blaine said with a slight smile.

Carole laughed. "Smartass."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It's been a while now since they had first taken Blaine in. It was Christmas Eve now, the decorations making Blaine a bit sad, realizing this would be his first Christmas without his family, not that they had ever done anything for Christmas anyway. Plus, he WAS spending it with his family in a way. Burt and Carole loved him more than his own family anyway, right? The worst part though? Kurt. Kurt was coming home for Christmas. Tonight. And Blaine's mind was racing.

_This... This is not going to be a very good Christmas, _Blaine thought to himself, leaning against the shower wall.

Kurt would be there in a few hours, and they would have to explain Blaine living there and why he didn't know about it.

Oh, this was going to be a very, very bad Christmas.

...

Blaine went up to his room before Kurt got there, bracing himself for the fighting that he was sure would happen almost instantly. He and Burt had talked about it. Burt was going to just get it over with and tell him right away that he had taken Blaine in. Burt told him there was nothing to worry about but he knew that wasn't true. He knew things would at least get a bit loud.

He wasn't expecting it to be this bad though.

He had taken his anti-anxiety an hour ago yet he was still sitting huddled in the corner, half lying down and half sitting, arms around his legs and knees to his chin, sobbing and hyperventilating.

He could hear how hurt Kurt was. He didn't love him, there was no way Blaine couldn't see that Kurt didn't love him anymore.

Things had calmed down for a minute and Blaine let his guard down, trying to calm his breathing so he didn't pass out when it started again.

"How could you do this to me, dad? He cheated on me, he hurt me, and you just forgave that? Why? How could you do that and not tell me?!"

"Look, Kurt, I know what I'm doing. I wasn't about to let him live on the street!"

Well, this was a bit calmer at least. They weren't screaming anymore. But now he had to hear Burt explain why he was here. Kurt didn't give him the chance to explain earlier but he finally was allowing it.

Blaine spaced out for a few minutes, only paying attention again when he heard Kurt finally speak.

"Look, Dad, I know your intentions were good, but why the HELL didn't you TELL ME?"

Blaine can't listen anymore. He can't listen or he's going to just get his heart broken a little bit more.

So Blaine turns his music on. Teenage Dream. Of course. He can't find the energy to change the song and just lays there listening, hating himself for hurting Kurt.

He hears the pounding of steps on stairs and a slammed door but doesn't think much of it.

...

Kurt slams his door shut and just falls onto his bed, tears quietly running down his cheeks. He can hear music, only faintly, and thinking it's his imagination, ignores it. Until he hears something else. He can hear Blaine. And he's crying, gasping through sobs, and Kurt knows it's bad. And he feels guilty.

And then Blaine starts singing. Just barely, so softly Kurt can barely hear it even once he's opened his door.

Kurt walks into the hall, pressing his ear against the door and smiling sadly, mouthing along to the harmonies as Blaine sings.

Kurt slides down the wall, knees to his chest. Tears still rolling down his cheeks.

And then, without even realizing what he's doing, He's harmonizing with Blaine. Barely at a whisper, but he can't help it. His heart shatters at every word Blaine sings, Blaine's voice sounding so shallow and broken.

...

Blaine has moved to his bed now, crying and singing into his pillow, curled in on himself.

And then he stops singing for a second. And he hears a familiar voice.

_Great job, Blaine, you've gone so insane without Kurt that you're imagining him singing. Can you get more pathetic?_

But then it gets louder.

As if Kurt can tell that Blaine's silence means he's listening.

And he knows he isn't imagining this.

...

Kurt's voice starts to waver, and he notices how hard he's crying. His shirt collar has gotten wet and he has no idea how he's kept his voice steady this long.

He gets up, still singing, and lifts his hand to knock on the door.

Right before he does it swings open.

Blaine looks as if he hasn't slept in weeks. He's shaking and crying and just whispering the lyrics at this point.

Kurt stares at Blaine and smiles slightly before singing, strong and clear, no more tears.

"Let's run away and don't ever look back.."

...

"Don't ever look back." Blaine finishes, barely getting the last word out as he's cut off by Kurt suddenly jumping forward and kissing him. Kurt breaks the kiss and pulls him into a hug.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kurt." Blaine mumbles into Kurt's neck between sobs.

Kurt takes a step back, holding Blaine's face in his hands.

"I told you I'm never saying goodbye to you, Blaine. I- I love you."

Kurt kisses him again, with more force this time, and pushes Blaine down onto the bed. He pulls Blaine closer in until they are lying face to face, Blaine clinging onto Kurt's waist.

Kurt kisses Blaine again, slowly, almost tentatively, as tears start rolling down his cheeks again, this time falling onto Blaine.

"I love you so much, Blaine. I'm sorry for not listening to you, I'm sorry I didn't call or text or even look at what you said I'm so, so sorry Blaine.." Kurt sobs.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Kurt. I- You don't- You shouldn't have to be stuck with me. I broke your heart and I.. I fucked up, Kurt. I'm so sorry for what I did. I-"

"Stop, Blaine. You aren't someone that people get stuck with. I'm so, so lucky to have you Blaine. And I'm never going to let something get between us again. I love you Blaine, There is nobody else on this planet I would rather be with. I love you."

Blaine tries to speak, but is only able to let out a choked laughing sob.

"I love you, too, Kurt."

AUTHOR NOTE

Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and adding this story to your favorites. This has been my most popular fic and its really amazing seeing all the people who enjoy it.

- Sarah


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